Local boxer ready for pro debut

CLOVIS - Clovis native Isabel Garcia is hoping to soon become a member of the Clovis Police Department.

Right now, she has another passion - boxing. After 35 fights as an amateur, the 22-year-old Garcia is scheduled to be a part of a pro fight card set for Saturday night in Las Cruces.

She is scheduled to take on Stephanie Hun, a native Korean who is now fighting out of the El Paso area. The bout is in the 138-pound division and is scheduled for four, two-minute rounds.

Asked if she is either nervous or excited, Garcia said: "It's a little bit of both. I'm probably more nervous than excited."

Her father, Joe, serves as her trainer. Isabelle Garcia took an interest in the sport while watching him work at the age of 10.

She was 15 when she got her first amateur fight.

"I'm the one that taught her when she was around 10, teaching her how to move and stuff like that," said Joe Garcia, who himself had a brief career as a boxer in the early 1990s before becoming a trainer. "She wanted to start fighting, so I got her a fight."

Isabel Garcia said she's been wanting a pro fight for some time, but the coronavirus pandemic got in the way a bit.

"I've been trying to get a pro fight for a while now," she said. "But with everything that's been going on, it's been hard.

"Growing up, my dad was training fighters, and me and my brother would watch. My dad showed me how to protect myself. It just came naturally, but it took a while for me to actually compete."

Her father thinks she's ready for the next level.

"She's accomplished everything she's wanted to accomplish so far," he said. "When she's got her mind set, she gets it done."

Garcia is a 2017 graduate of Clovis High, and earned her bachelor's degree at Eastern New Mexico University in the spring. When she's not training, she's working toward a career in police work.

Her father said she'll have to adjust to the pro game.

"The pros are a little different than the amateurs," he said. "You wear eight-pound gloves (instead of 12) and no headgear."

"She's been wanting to turn pro, but with the current situation, the coronavirus and all, it was tough to find other girls to fight."

She doesn't know a lot about her opponent, but said Hun comes from a fighting family and has a sister and brother who've been involved in the sport.

Garcia said the training from boxing could help her in her chosen profession as a police officer.

How long might she ply her skills in the ring? She's not sure.

"Right now, I want to try it," she said. "But after this first fight, I could change my mind."